2022

1) Managing Stress & Anxiety – Community of Praise Baptist Church

Mark & Sue Lim from The Social Factor were invited to speak to the church congregation about how to manage stress and anxiety in the church. This was part of a series entitled “Pathways to Mental Wellness”, conducted by Community of Praise Baptist Church, in conjunction with International Mental Wellness Day.

2) Mental Wellness Concerns for Leaders – Community of Praise Baptist Church

This was a training session for church leaders which touched on a number of important issues:

  • Managing Emotional Hurts & Holding Space
  • Empathy & Empathic Listening
  • Signs of Distress
  • Common Mental Health Disorders
  • Important Issues – Burnout & Exhaustion

3) Panel on Adoption & Fostering – NUS College of Alice and Peter Tan 

Mark & Sue Lim of The Social Factor were invited to speak as part of a discussion panel on diverse families in Singapore. The sessions, in March and October 2021, are part of an ongoing module on “Unequal Parenthoods in Asia”, which examines how parenting roles and styles and perceptions of parenting are differentially produced across time, place and context.

4) Attention Workshop – MOE Gifted Education Branch

This programme, for English Language teachers aimed to achieve the following goals:

  1. To help participants have a better understanding of the challenges faced by gifted students;
  2. To learn about various classroom and instructional strategies that can be used to help  gifted students; and 
  3. To help students who may display traits of twice-exceptionality.

The emphasis of the session was on sensory considerations and how they affect students who have challenges in handwriting, reading and speaking.

5) Helping Children Grow Holistically through Sensory Play – Boutique Fairs Singapore

Play helps children develop the important gross and fine motor skills that will benefit them in their regular psychosocial development. This workshop was to help parents learn the important concepts of sensory play and how to use sensory resources to help kids develop the key cognitive skills of thinking and logic.

6) Growing an Emotionally Resilient Child by Adopting a Strengths-based Approach – Boutique Fairs Singapore

We live in a brave new world with numerous challenges that our children will need to overcome. This workshop was to utilise the Strengths Cards developed by St Luke’s Innovative Resources in Australia to help parents learn how to build an emotionally-resilient child by adopting the strengths-based approach.

7 ) Mental Wellness e-Workshops for Polytechnic Students – Ngee Ann Polytechnic

This was the second run of 23 mental wellness workshops that The Social Factor conducted for 1st Year Students at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. The curriculum for the 1.5-hour workshops was developed by the Ministry of Education, and students were equipped to recognise signs of distress as well as how to  support themselves and their peers.

8) Respect & Responsibility e-Workshops for Polytechnic Students – Ngee Ann Polytechnic

This was the inaugural run of 57 mental wellness workshops that The Social Factor conducted for 1st Year Students at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. The emphasis was on how participants can be respectful in the school and in the workplace, when managing the various relationships that they encounter.

9) Nanyang Poly Learning Festival – Coping with Stress & Mental Wellbeing

The workshop aimed to achieve the following goals:

  1. To help participants learn the fundamentals of coping with stress and building mental wellbeing;
  2. To help participants recognise signs of distress and the need for help & support; and
  3. To help participants develop healthy support strategies.

10) Mental Wellness e-Workshops for Polytechnic Students – Nanyang Polytechnic

This is part of a regular run of mental wellness workshops conducted for 1st Year Students at Nanyang Polytechnic (January 22, May 22 and November 22). The curriculum for the 2-hour workshops was developed by the Ministry of Education, and students were equipped to recognise signs of distress as well as how to  support themselves and their peers.

11) Peer Support Programme – Presbyterian High School

This comprised two 4-hour half day sessions with the following objectives:

Session 1 : 

  1. To understand the purpose of Peer Support & the importance of holistic wellbeing;
  2. To gain a better understanding of themselves; of how their life experiences and stressors have affected the person whom they are; and
  3. To better understand the roles of a Peer Supporter.
  4. To understand the importance of empathy in Peer Support.
  5. To consider the importance of Negative Automatic Thoughts and how to address them. 
  6. To learn aspects of active listening, non-verbal communication models (SOLER), facilitating, and effective friendship skills in order to be a better help to their friends.

Session 2 

  1. To practice active listening, facilitating, and effective friendship skills in order to be a better help to their friends. 
  2. To learn about common youth issues and special needs issues.
  3. To be aware of mental wellness issues, and signs of distress, and how to recognise when a friend needs help (CHEER model).
  4. To consider issues of ethics, boundaries and confidentiality.
  5. To learn about the various support strategies & resources and how to help a friend in need.
  6. To reflect and consolidate on the learning experience during the course of the workshop. 

12) Peer Support Programme – Evergreen Secondary School

This was the second run of the Peer Support Programme conducted for Evergreen Secondary School Student Peer Supporters. It was run at both Basic and Intermediate Levels.

13) Peer Support Programme – Singapore Polytechnic

The Social Factor conducted 3 runs of an 8-hour programme intended to help students understand the concept of peer support and how they can help someone who is in distress. This is the basic version of the workshop which has been conducted for various other educational institutions.

14) Sensory Room Workshop – MOE N6 Cluster

The workshop achieved the following goals:

  1. To provide an overview of sensory systems and how they affect learning;
  2. To help participants have a better understanding of Sensory Rooms and how they can benefit students with special needs;
  3. To help participants understand therapeutic aspects of Sensory Rooms;
  4. To learn about various classroom strategies and tools that can be used to help students with sensory challenges; and
  5. To help participants conceptualise and construct a Sensory Room.

15) SEN Workshop Series – Kheng Cheng School

This 4-part workshop series covered the following topics:

Session No.Topics to be Covered
1Making Friends & Dealing with Anxiety
2Managing Negative Automatic Thoughts & Building Self Esteem
3Managing Anger & Making Good Choices
4Managing Sensory & Emotional Distractions

16) SEN Learning Workshop Series – Oasis Primary School

The workshop series comprised the following:

Day 1 Friendship & Self Esteem

Who am I?

What can I do about my worries?

You’ve got a friend in me!

The Empathy Game

Day 2: Motivation & Me

The Web of Importance

The River Crossing Game

What can I do when I am distracted?

Day 3: Learning & Study Skills

What is my learning style?

How can I learn better?

How can I better manage my time?

17) SEN Goal Setting Workshop Series – Oasis Primary School

The 2-parter series comprised the folowing:

Day 1: Motivation & Goals

What is Motivation?

The Web of Importance

My Hopes & Dreams

My Vision Board

Who am I?

The Power of Words

Three Stars & a Wish

Day 2: Overcoming My Challenges

What are my Challenges?

Managing Emotional Distractions

Dealing with Worry & Anxiety

The Worry Jar

The River Crossing Game

Managing Sensory Distractions

The Distraction Games